The forests found in humid regions more easily attract moisture from the sea, causing an increase in rainfall; where instead the atmosphere is drier, the transpiration of plants could limit the transport of humid marine air masses and with it the rainfall. This is indicated by the research published in the journal Global Change Biology and coordinated by the Technical University of Munich and in which Italy participates with the Institute of Atmospheric and Climate Sciences of the National Research Council (Cnr-Isac) and Universities from Florence. Thus a new piece is added to the possibility of understanding the puzzle of the complex interactions between vegetation and rainfall.
The theory according to which forests act as a ‘biotic pump’, a sort of beating heart that moves water around the planet, is also confirmed. “The analysis is based on our previous result, namely the discovery that the increase in air humidity generated by the presence of the Amazon forest leads to a large increase in rainfall”, Mara Baudena, Cnr-Isac researcher and among the authors of the research. “Combining this factor with the atmospheric water balance, in other words, the relationship between rainfall, plant transpiration and soil evaporation, we have strong indications that increased rainfall in forested areas is closely related to increased moisture imports.” from the seas”. she adds.
The study also indicates the effects that deforestation and climate change have on tropical forests. “Deforestation dehumidifies the atmosphere, making it drier and vegetation – in the regrowth phase – by extracting water from the soil intensifies its aridity: in this way the importation of humid air from the sea decreases. We must therefore take into account the relationships between all the elements of the ecosystem, to favor an efficient regulation of the water cycle”, adds Ugo Bardi of the University of Florence.
For the first author of the research, Anastassia Makarieva of the Technical University, “it should be considered that atmospheric water flows do not ‘respect’ geographical boundaries, therefore deforestation in one region could trigger a transition to a drier regime in another “By supporting the Earth’s water cycle, the Earth’s natural forests, both at high and low latitudes, are of critical importance and their conservation should become a priority to solve the global water crisis.”
Source: Ansa
I am a journalist with over 6 years of experience working in the news industry. I currently work as an author for Global Happenings, and my coverage focuses on Technology news. I have written for various publications, including Reuters, The New York Times and The Guardian.
